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Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Phantasia is the first installment of the Tales series, and was released by Namco in 1995 for the Super Famicom. Released at the end of 1995, Tales of Phantasia is considered one of the crowning achievements for its time. It has graphics that push the console to its limits, an original never-before-seen battle system, and the addition of actual voices and voice actors. It is also the first and only Super Famicom game to feature an entirely original, vocalized theme song featured directly in the game. Plot Tales of Phantasia begins by showing a heroic battle between four unknown warriors against an evil sorcerer, Dhaos, the outcome of which changed the fate of the world. The warriors are victorious, but Dhaos escapes through time. However, four different heroes await him: they seal the weakened Dhaos away by using the power of two pendants, thus returning peace to the world. In the town of Toltus ten years after Dhaos was sealed away, there lives a young swordsman named Cress Albane, his best friend Chester Burklight and his sister, Utsukushī Albane. The town is destroyed by a dark knight named Mars Uldole and his soldiers while Cress, Chester and Utsukushī are out hunting in the forest. Every villager is killed in the attack, including Chester's sister and both of Cress and Utsukushī's parents. While Chester mourns, Cress and Utsukushī vows for revenge. They decided they will head to the town of Euclid, as his mother asked of him before she passed away. The two friends decide they will meet up later in Euclid. Upon his arrival in Euclid, Cress and Utsukushī are soon betrayed by their uncle and is thrown in jail, captured by Mars. The heirloom pendant entrusted to Cress by his father Miguel is taken away from him, but Cress does not know of its significance in holding Dhaos sealed, nor that his father was one of the four who sealed him away. Cress and Utsukushī meets Mint Adnade in the jail, and she joins and helps them escape. Soon afterward, the trio meets Chester again at the home of Trinicus D. Morrison, another of the four warriors. Morrison informs the party that he knew Cress and Utsukushī's parents and Mint's mother quite well, and they once joined together to seal away a great evil. He is horrified to hear that Cress's pendant has been stolen and immediately runs off towards a nearby mausoleum. Cress, Mint, Chester and Utsukushī deduce that Mars must be there, and so follow Morrison without his knowledge and against his will. Unfortunately, Mars manages to release Dhaos using the pendants before Morrison and the party can stop him. With no hope of dealing with the all-powerful Dhaos for now, Morrison attempts to send Cress, Mint, Chester and Utsukushī back a century into the past, so that they will learn about Dhaos and procure a means to preemptively defeat him. After killing Mars, Dhaos attacks the party with a magic spell that Chester dives in front of. So it is that Chester and Morrison are left behind to suffer Dhaos's wrath, with only a broken bow and a diary respectively all that Mint, Cress and Utsukushī have to remember them by. In the past, Dhaos is still causing chaos, preparing for an imminent war against the two largest human countries, the Kingdom of Alvanista and Midgards. These events happened ninety-four years before he was sealed. In this time period, Dhaos's evil pervades most of the world, and he even controls the prince of Alvanista's royal family. The party learns that the only way to defeat Dhaos is by using magic, but neither Cress,Utsukushī nor Mint can practice the magical arts—only elves and half-elves can use the powerful spells. However, they soon meet Claus F. Lester, a summoner, and Arche Klein, a half-elf witch, who join them in their quest. Claus is a researcher of summoning, the act of evoking a magical or elemental spirit, and is thus one of the only humans who can indirectly use magic by forming a pact with the spirits via special rings and then summoning them in battle. He suggests that the spirit Luna may be useful to them, and so the party travels across the world to the deserts of Freyland, the depths of the ancient dwarven caverns of the Morlia Gallery, and to mountains above and caves below in search of rings and spirits to help them fight Dhaos. Eventually, the party reaches Midgards and succeeds in helping fend off Dhaos's army in the conflict called the Valhalla War. They proceed to Dhaos's castle in search of him, with hopes of restoring peace to the world and avenging the deaths of their loved ones. Reaching the throne room, an epic battle with Dhaos ensues. Unfortunately, Dhaos escapes through time, much in the same way as before. The party travels back to their original time to interrupt the resurrected Dhaos from killing Morrison and Chester in the mausoleum, and fight him once more. This time, Dhaos is completely defeated, and the cave begins to collapse in on itself and an unconscious Dhaos. In the aftermath, the party decides that with Dhaos most likely dead, they have succeeded and can part ways so that Claus and Arche can return to their original time. But at that moment, a time-traveler arrives from the future to inform them that Dhaos is still alive and is terrorizing the future. Cress and company immediately travel forward in time fifty years to deal with Dhaos and his minions once and for all. Upon the advancement of their journey, Cress, Mint, Arche, Claus, Chester and Utsukushī learn of the Eternal Sword, which is considered to be the only weapon that may eliminate Dhaos once and for all by sealing his ability to flee through time. After acquiring it and another ally, the ninja Suzu Fujibayashi, the party ventures into Dhaos's floating castle, invisible to those who do not wield the Eternal Sword. When they reach the top, they battle against Dhaos, who they learn is much more than a simple sorcerer. He is a traveler from another world that is trying to save the Great Tree Yggdrasill from withering and dying; the mana that the tree exudes is of utmost importance to the survival of his world, the planet Derris-Kharlan. After his defeat, Cress and the others return to the Tree, and the Spirit Martel explains Dhaos's circumstances. The game's protagonists come to realize that in the end, Dhaos was merely trying to save his people, a noble intent marred by his actions. Finally, Claus and Arche return to their own time, while Suzu, a denizen of the future, parts ways with them. Martel, after the party leaves, decides Dhaos's planet with the gift of a Mana Seed to help them survive. Characters *'Cress Albane '(クレス・アルベイン Kuresu Arubein, ''"Cless Alvein") - A young swordsman from the village of Toltus who sets out on a revenge-fueled journey after losing his family in a bloody massacre. *'Mint Adenade (ミント・アドネード Minto Adoneedo, "Mint Adnade") - A calm and collected healer who was taken prisoner by evil knights just before the Demon King Dhaos is released. She joins Cress on his quest when they escape together. *'''Chester Burklight (チェスター・バークライト Chesutaa Baakuraito) - Cress's childhood friend who loses his little sister Ami Burklight when their village is destroyed. Bow in hand, he swears to get revenge by defeating the Demon King Dhaos. *'Claus F. Lester '(クラース・Ｆ・レスター Kuraasu F. Resutaa, "Klarth F. Lester") - A scholar from the village of Euclid who helps Cress out by summoning spirits. His goal is to one day master the art of magic despite being a human. *'Arche Klein' (アーチェ・クライン'' Aache Kurain'') - A cheerful half-elf witch with powerful magic who can feel the world's energy slowly draining away. *'Suzu Fujibayashi '(藤林すず Fujibayashi Suzu, "Fujibayashi Suzu") - A young ninja who searches desperately for her parents, only to find them under the ruthless control of Dhaos. *'Utsukushī Albane' (美しい ・ アルベイン Utsukushī Arubein, "Tiānzǐ Alvein") - Cress' little sister, Though young, she is a powerful Dragoon equal to her brother's strength. *'Dhaos '(ダオス Daosu) - The "Demon King" who wishes to eradicate all human life. Although sealed away by four warriors in the past, he is set free at the beginning of the story. Release Overview Tales of Phantasia: 3D Edition A port for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) called Tales of Phantasia: 3D Edition was released in Japan in September 2006, developed by Mineloader Software. This version of the game is largely based upon the PlayStation remake and contains completely redone voice acting, which are now used for most story events. It has also added voice for all plot events, which may be the reason behind the remake's name. The PS2 port also includes a grade system, also from later games of the series, and features new battle sprites for the main characters with less exaggerated proportions, closer to those of later games in the series, such as Tales of Eternia. A new system called "Roles" and "Paradigm Shift" are included. Gameplay Roles (PS2 Only) The player can only control one character at a time in battle. The other party members' actions can be affected by a system called the "Paradigm Shift". Paradigms are described as "stances" or "classes" that the characters temporarily take during battle to define the abilities they use. They are more strict than job classes; for example, the character with a Medic's role can do nothing but heal, while the Commando's role forces the character to only attack with non-elemental attacks. The paradigms can be changed at any time to suit the situation at hand, but they cannot be changed individually to each character, only for the whole party at a time. Thus, a paradigm is a combination of three roles. There are a total of 83 possible paradigm combinations (6 single, 21 double, and 56 triple member combinations). The roles used are shown as colored abbreviations next to the characters' names in the battle screen. The roles within the paradigms are: Paradigms (PS2 Only) A Paradigm, also known as an Optima, is a combination of two to three roles in Tales of Phantasia (PS2). The player can preset up to a maximum of six paradigms when outside battle. During battle the player can freely switch between the preset paradigms using the L1 Button, also known as a Paradigm Shift or an Optima Change. Setting paradigms and performing paradigm shift at optimal times during battle is the core of formulating winning strategies. In Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon (PS2), suffixes of paradigm names may change according to the Paradigm Tune player has selected for each paradigm. The player has only two main characters, but once the Paradigm Pack option unlocks the player can include a third party member from their roster of captured monsters. In Tales of V.S., Cress or Utsukushī's battle style is an adapted form of the Paradigm System. By pressing R Button and L Button during battle, Cress or Utsukushī can change between the Commando, Ravager, and Medic Paradigms, signified by the name of the new Paradigm being displayed and a visual effect engulfing Cress or Utsukushī briefly. Each Paradigm has its own set of Bravery attacks, with HP attacks being shared across all three, and allow Cress or Utsukushī to quickly change up their fighting style. Commando focuses on physical attacks, Ravager focuses on magic attacks, and Medic allows Cress or Utsukushī to cast healing spells to increase her Bravery without attacking. Skits (PS1) The PlayStation remake version of Tales of Phantasia features the introduction of the most widely used face skit format, known in Japan as Kaodra. Character portraits are displayed within framed squares with a plain background, featuring each character's face. The squares are arranged in the center of the screen, showing only the characters who are involved in a given scene. Each character's pose within the square changes based on the situation, showing that individual's emotions as he or she speaks and listens to others. The portraits are animated further through blinking eyes and moving mouthes, giving life to the characters as they converse with each other. The activation of these skits relies on the press of a button when prompted while the party is on the world map and not involved in battle or story dialogue. This enables players to view these skits at their leisure, rather than having to idle and wait for them to appear automatically, as in the system's first incarnation. Linear Motion Battle System Tales of Phantasia introduces the Linear Motion Battle System. In later installments of the Tales series, this battle system will be reused and improved with new features. Battles are fought on a single two-dimensional plane with enemies that act in real time. Standard RPG features such as HP and TP are implemented. Commands must be input either using button presses or selecting options via a menu. Heading to either the far left or the far right of the screen will cause an Escape Gauge to appear which must fill up completely in order to escape. Targeting enemies is automatically assigned beforehand but can be changed manually. Physical artes only work at either short or long range, while the effects of spells are limited to those targets who are displayed on the screen, and all actions stop when high-level spells are cast. In the original game, it is only possible to control Cress, but later remakes allow the player to control any party member in battle.